BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – The St. Kitts and Nevis Financial Services Regulatory Commission (FSRC), in collaboration with the Caribbean Association of Pension Supervisors (CAPS) and the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (CARTAC), gathered at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort for an important two-day workshop on “Enhancing the Micro and Macro Dimensions of Pension Regulation and Supervision” June 18-19.

“Our role is basically to come together as a regional association to share ideas and our methods of supervising and regulating the pension industries in various countries,” said CAPS President Nicolette Jenez. “Our mission is to facilitate efficient and effective supervisory and regulatory systems in the Caribbean.”

She explained that this is the eight annual meeting since the company’s founding in 2010 and said that the topic for this year focuses on the micro dimensions, which have to do with pension regulation in the private pension industry, and the macro levels, which focus on pension regulations in the country and regionally. She also said that she was pleased to have the chairperson of the FSRC, Financial Secretary Hilary Hazel, as the keynote speaker for the workshop.

“We had the pleasure of opening our conference with the chairperson of FSRC, Hilary Hazel, as our keynote speaker.,” she said. “It was very informative and she gave a very thought provoking opening to our conference that set the tone for us. Generally speaking, everything that we do is in the interest of the members of the pension plans and ultimately pensioners.”

Financial sector supervision adviser of CARTAC, Ralph Lewars, said that he is pleased with the turn out for the conference this year, with more than 50 in attendance. He also thanked the FSRC for its support in organizing the conference. “The turnout for this year’s conference is very good,” he said. “We have about 60 participants and it would be fair to say that the objective set for the workshop has been accomplished. I must also add that the FSRC of St. Kitts and Nevis as host has done a good job in terms of planning the logistics relating to the workshop and I would like to commend them.”

CARTAC was established in 1999, became operational in 2001 and has been the sponsor for the CAPS Conference and workshop for the past eight years with the support of CARICOM, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the European Union (EU), Global Affairs Canada, the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and UK AID.

The workshop fostered discussions on stress testing of the application to the pension industry for financial stability, the framework for assessing the effectiveness of plan administrators, investment managers and trustees and supervising the pension industry in the Caribbean.